Fannie Warns Servicers on Buybacks

Fannie Mae has warned its servicers that they face a new wave of mortgage buyback requests — this time for defects on unsecured loans that were extended to delinquent mortgage borrowers. According to a report in American Banker, the GSE last week cited six errors that servicers frequently make as it issued new guidelines for its HomeSaver Advance program, under which an unsecured loan for up to $15,000 is given to the borrower to cover arrears. These range from clerical mistakes, such as filling out the wrong form, to more significant problems like using the program on mortgages that are ineligible. Such errors can put a servicer on the hook to repurchase the unsecured loans, Fannie said. The new guidelines apply retroactively, meaning the GSE can make a servicer buy back any of the 71,000 advances Fannie has bought since it started the program last year, if they are found to be defective. "Everybody gets the sense that there's going to be a big 'gotcha' because delinquencies are rising and they want to put the risk on somebody else," said Cheryl Lang, the president of Integrated Mortgage Solutions, a Houston consulting firm.